Family rescued after boat sinks in Lake Taupo

A family of four has been rescued after their boat sank on Lake Taupo this morning. Photo / Muriel Wilson

A family of four has been rescued after their boat sank in Lake Taupo this morning.

Emergency services were called after a member of the public saw the vessel going down in Five Mile Bay, south of the main Taupo township, about 11.30am.

Taupo Harbourmaster navigational safety officer Jono Unuwai said two children and two men, thought to be a father and uncle, had been in a small dinghy not far from shore.

The children were taking turns being towed on a sea biscuit behind the boat.

"The lake's unpredictable and the waves can just shoot up half a metre with just a breath of wind," he said.

"What happened was [the dad] did a sharp turn to retrieve one of the children off the biscuit and a wave washed in. It was quickly over after that - it didn't take long to sink."

The children's mother was on shore, frantically looking on.

"Everyone was wearing lifejackets and luckily there was a big party of people on the shore that saw everything and there are lots of boats in the area. So they might have been in the water for five minutes."

They were all out of the water before the Harbourmaster jet ski arrived.

"They're all good, the dad's just a bit shaken up. Luckily there were no injuries and it's just a story to tell now. It was a smooth operation - it couldn't have gone any better really."